Hal Duncan (born 21 October 1971, real name Alasdair) is a Scottish science fiction and fantasy writer.

His works have been listed in the New Weird genre but he denies that such genre was even known to him at the time of writing his first novel.[1] However, he now seems to have accepted this label and to appreciate it, as proved by the inclusion of one of his stories in an anthology called simply The New Weird and edited by Jeff and Ann VanderMeer.[2] In general, however, he prefers not to ascribe his writings to any genre.[3]

He is openly homosexual and terms himself a "Sodomite".[6][7] Occasionally he fashions himself as "THE.... Sodomite Hal Duncan" (sic) after receiving hate mail defining him by this expression, as reported on his personal weblog.[8]

He is also very outspoken politically[3] and considers himself an "anarcho-socialist who recognizes that democracy's the least of all possible evils"[5] but also "a little bit liberal."[9]

Its sequel, Ink – The Book of All Hours 2, was published in February 2007.[22] Its two parts are linked to the two remaining seasons, winter (entitled "Hinter's Knights") and spring ("Eastern Mourning"), and it continues the narrative (and the style) of the first instalment.[23] The ancient works here referred to are Euripides's The Bacchae and no less than the Old Testament.[24]Ink has been shortlisted for the 2011 Tähtivaeltaja Awards.[25][26]

Ink has been translated into German by Hannes Riffel,[27]Finnish by Nina Saikkonen,[28] French by Florence Dolisi,[29] Spanish by Luis Gallego Tévar[30] and Polish by Anna Reszka.[31]

He has also participated in Ann and Jeff VanderMeer's Last Drink Bird Head (2009), an experiment in which 70 writes were asked the same question ("Who or what is Last Drink Bird Head?") published by Ministry of Whimsy whose profits were destined to the ProLiteracy Worldwide Organization.[50][51]

Besides the two poetry collections Sonnets for Orpheus and The LuciferCantos published in very limited, handbound editions (26 and 24 copies) by Papaveria Press in 2006 and 2010 respectively,[52][53] he has made most of his poetry publicly available through his blog, convinced that "there's no money in poetry. If I wanted to be read, I'm just as happy to post online and let people read it there."[5]

In July 2011 Papaveria Press published Songs for the Devil and Death,[54] which includes the poems originally published in Sonnets for Orpheus and The Lucifer Cantos with the addition of several others.

He also wrote a musical, Nowhere Town, that he defines a "punk rock opera" and a "gay punk Orpheus".[6][58] It has been premiered in June 2010 in Chicago by the University theatre group, directed by Beth Walker.[59] He made the libretto and the vocal tracks available for download through his blog.[60]

He wrote essays related to myth and literature, some of which are available online.[63]

He made recordings of some of his readings publicly available through his blog; some can be freely downloaded[64] while others are being sold for a fee.[65]

For his activity as a blogger he has been nominated for the 2009/2010 Last Drink Bird Head Award in the field of "Gentle Advocacy" ("In recognition of individuals willing to enter into blunt discourse about controversial issues"),[66] but lost the award to Ay-leen the Peacemaker from Beyond Victoriana.[67] In 2009 he was nominated for the same award but in the category "Expanding Our Vocabulary" ("In recognition of writers whose fiction or nonfiction exposes readers to new words and, often, new ideas").[68] The award went to John Clute.[69]